Florida Decides Healthcare (FDH), the group leading the campaign, announced this week it is suspending efforts to qualify the measure for the November 2026 ballot.

Florida

A prominent Florida campaign to expand Medicaid has suspended its efforts to place the issue on the 2026 ballot, shifting its focus to 2028. The group, Florida Decides Healthcare, attributes the delay to new state legislation that has significantly increased signature verification costs, shortened deadlines, and imposed stricter regulations on petition campaigns.

Supporters of Medicaid expansion argue that the delay could affect approximately 1.4 million Floridians currently in the coverage gap, especially as federal tax credits are set to expire. While the campaign has already collected over 200,000 petitions and raised $6 million, leaders say the additional time will help them build resources and address ongoing legal challenges. Polling indicates broad public support for expansion, though opposition remains strong among state Republican leaders.

Florida Medicaid expansion campaign suspends 2026 ballot push

Florida's biggest citizen-led push to expand Medicaid is now hitting pause. We know it's important to have your voice heard on critical issues, like health care access. So Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunders is looking at what's at stake now. Florida decides health care had hoped to get Medicaid expansion on the 2026 ballot. Instead, they're now shifting to 2028. Who do you think owns this? Politicians in Tallahassee. I mean, citizen-led ballot initiatives are a fundamental right for all Floridians. The group blames HB 1205, a petition law overhaul signed by Governor Ron DeSantis this year to find allegations of fraud and big money influence. But these initiatives, these petitions should not be able to be manipulated this way, especially with respect to amending the Constitution. Our Constitution should not be for sale to the highest bidder. The measure hiked signature verification costs by more than 3,000 percent in some counties. It shortened deadlines and even threatened campaign workers with racketeering charges. It was just death by a thousand cuts. You know, every one of them we have been figuring out a solution to address, but figuring out how to address so many different changes. In the middle of the game. In the middle of the game. You know, if you're playing basketball and the refs suddenly say, there's a four point line, but we're not going to tell you where it is, but we'll let the opponents know. How are you going to play? How is this fair? FDH says it already collected more than 200,000 petitions, raised 6 million and built a coalition of 100 grassroots groups. The pause, leaders say, is about timing, giving them three more years to build resources and potentially prevail in an ongoing legal fight. At stake, an estimated 1.4 million Floridians in the Medicaid coverage gap, plus the potential loss of Obamacare tax credits set to expire in January. Uninsured could nearly triple. It's devastating, you know, to say, to say the least. Andrea DeMola already among them saying Social Security disability insurance isn't enough. Without Medicaid, you know, it's a struggle each and every day, and I'm going to continue to struggle each and every day until Florida decides to do the proper thing and expand Medicaid. Supporters of expansion in the legislature call the delay devastating. That is actually heartbreaking. This is not the time to make health care more expensive. This is the time to take advantage of everything we can. But Republicans have long been opposed. Gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner telling us why recently. I absolutely oppose Medicaid expansion. I would fight it because we want to take those resources and keep it with the truly needy. And if we take and disperse all that, we will not have enough for the people who really need it. FDH polling has shown two thirds of Floridians back expansion, including a slim majority of Republicans. How confident are you feeling right now in 28? We are very confident. And Emerson expects momentum will only grow if more lose coverage ahead of 2028, a dire prospect, he predicts, for health care. People are going to die that could have been prevented. One death is too many, but it's going to be thousands of deaths that we are going to face because of a lack of access to health care. That was our Forrest Saunders reporting.

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